First look: Prime Bar & Grill in Clifton Park

I dined Saturday night at the new Angelo’s Prime Bar & Grill, which officially opens tonight at the Hilton Garden Inn at Clifton Park Center mall.

While it’s startling to have the restaurant literally be a part of the hotel lobby, the small bar is set back enough to give at least that part of the space a restaurant feel.

I like the menu a lot, and it’s priced right for the market. The 20-ounce Delmonico for $22 (right) seems sure to be a huge hit. We liked all of our food, though the steak, requested rare, came out medium, and its replacement was mooingly underdone. Chalk that up to pre-opening kinks and a large Christmas party going on in the banquet room.

It does look like a nice enough menu, and the appetizer and entrees are priced about right for being part of a hotel in a mall. However, I do think $12-13 is a bit much for a plain 8 oz. burger, and $14.50 is flat-out silly for a Reuben.

How were the bacon wrapped peanut butter filled dates? I’m finding the combination kind of gross. Kind of reminds me of that episode of Friends where Rachel made a dessert but accidentally put meat in there somewhere.

#14 (williepit), Why are you such an a**hole ?? I read this blog everyday, but contribute very little because of the constant bickering and degrading of people. Williepit, you are the poster person for online bullying !! What is your deal? Does your life suck that much that you have to pick on others because of spelling errors or because thier opnion is different than yours?? Your an adult now, right? I think its time to grow up !!

This is a nice addition to the Clifton Park dining scene and I look forward to a visit. I didn’t see it mentioned…anyone know the drink pricing scheme? Up Martini’s, well drink, glass of house VS premium wine?

I’ll have to pass on that angry Lobster, at 1st glance the poor thing looks like it is treading for survival in its own self-induced pool of quicksand. I’m sure it’s quite good but I can’t shake that image.

@ #14- Eric S, thanks for saying what is long overdue regarding williepit. I imagine that he is some failed food critic who thinks that his Iron Chef attitude will win him a guest column or blog in a high society food rag.
I remember a spirited conversation I had with him regarding Trader Joe’s; I know little about Trader Joe’s, but his belittling attitude towards other commenters told me about the type of customer who would shop there.

@ #1: Grappa ’72 in Albany consistently cooks my husband’s fillet perfectly black and blue.
Glad to hear of another restaurant expanding to Clifton Park. Wheatfield’s in CP served a wonderful meal to our party and we will look forward to seeing if Prime does the same. 🙂

The French actually have a separate designation for ordering steaks which are charred on the outside but raw inside. As Carol Ann above mentioned, it translates loosely into the Americanized “black and blue”.

BTW – I agree with the other posters that williepitt’s comments are getting less and less constructive.

Black and blue or Pittsburgh is my preference, and only gets screwed up if the wait staff has no knowledge of either term. In my opinion, williepitt needs to go, nothing interesting, funny, helpful or informative coming out of that well.

Now, both of the comments above were digressions: I’ve been to Prime and like the open plan, but the bar is claustrophobic and it’s bad feng shui to have people seated with their backs to incoming traffic. If the back wall of the bar were mirrored, it would go a long way toward making the space feel better, but sitting there now is like being sent to the corner. I, too, like the menu, but hope they will add to it – there is not a single item that can be described as health conscious, and as someone intimately familiar with the road warrior types that will frequent this hotel and become a captive audience for the restaurant, these folks will want more healthful choices, since they live their lives in hotels much of the time and require better choices in food in order to survive a life of business travel.

Bottom line for me, as a resident of Clifton Park, is that I had hoped the bar would become a favorite spot, and that we’d have more interesting food coming our way, but I’m not sure Prime will fulfill either of my wishes for life after dark in this town.

Appetizers out of proportion, some are the size of double meals, some not so much, sparrow-zized at best. Overdressed salads, overlit bar, bad service (they’re just not in the groove yet, I always forgive poor service), eggs rubbery (refrigerated earlier that day or yesterday), overbooked, overheated, but despite all that, somewhat promising: corridor leads to the theater so one can avoid weather, but doesn’t lead back – only via a room key. Probably, Prime should leave the door open until midnight, as most hotels would should they be connected to a theater or the mall. Bar service excellent, but table service can’t keep up, but again, things will smooth out in time.

Best compliment: mini fish tacos are out of this world. Should be offered as a main course. The appetizer offers three bites exactly for a small person, but the outrageously excellent guacamole is too much volume in terms of a compliment. More fish tacos, guacamole to proportion! Guac served with mini mortar and pestle, chunky and fresh, beautiful.

In this blogger’s opinion, Prime’s (Saratoga and Albany) chopped salad and anything with truffle oil should seep into this menu.

Again, the space truly needs to be revamped – bar tables too tall for sofas, space is cold and lighting needs to be addressed. Suggestion: stay open past 11:00, business travelers need a break, especially if arriving later in the evening.

Bacon Wrapped dates are amazing, you would think they were gross but they were actually perfect!
I had the delmonico rare and it came out perfect… my sister got one of the burgers (BBQ shortrib and Blue Cheese) and it was TREMENDOUS– anything but ordinary.
My mother and my other sister both got the ny strip, they like theirs well done and that came out good but the pork shoulder block (which my boyfriend ordered)looked and tasted delicious!
we also tried the 7 hour Cherry Pepper pork (a favorite!) and the Eggplant and Ricotta in a jar which was good but I’ve had the Duck in a Jar before and it’s to die for.

A colleague of mine who is a fan of the original Prime establishments went last night and was kind of underwhelmed. He complained of no access via the mall, spotty service, overpriced drinks ($17 Rob Roy), limited table space open to both the kitchen and the lobby, and inconsistently prepared food. He felt that if they wanted to put the Prime name on the establishment they needed to match the quality of Albany or Saratoga, on which he felt that they fell short. He said he would return, but would probably be a bit more careful in his ordering choices.

Excellent food.. and martini… we asked for special accomodations with our meal, and the bartender (Brooke) was more than happy to assist… interesting decor, could be warmer..Have been a few times always happy with service and food.. Michelle and Brooke make a great team behind that bar!!
Thank you, we’ll be back…

The prices have already begun to creep up. The dates started out at $5, now are at $8. The Delmonico steak is smaller and more expensive. In general, everything seems to be several dollars more than when it opened. With starters between $11-$17, it is beginning to look like the other Primes.

I’m sure they will still do fine, since there is a distinct lack of restaurants in this tier in Clifton Park. But it is teetering toward a special occasion restaurant, which isn’t how I viewed it when they first opened.

Eat, drink and be candid, with Times Union Senior Writer Steve Barnes

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